Aust boxer visits Yankee Stadium
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Daniel Geale works up a sweat with trainer Graham Shaw at Mendez Boxing Gym on the lower east side of New York before Sunday’s fight against Gennady Golovkin at Madison Square Garden. Picture: Adam TaylorSource: News Corp Australia

IT’S known as the Mecca of boxing, a sporting theatre ­famous, among other things, for staging the fight of the century in 1971 when Smokin’ Joe Frazier outfought Muhammad Ali in his comeback fight.

Madison Square Garden, the sporting amphitheatre next door to New York’s Pennsylvania St subway station, home to millionaire stars of the Knicks in the NBA and the Rangers in the NHL, is world famous for hosting some wonderful events since opening at its current location in 1968.

These include the Knicks’ first NBA championship in 1970, the New York Rangers winning the 1994 Stanley Cup and boxer Roberto Duran bludgeoning champion Davey Moore to win the WBA junior middleweight title belt in 1983.

It has also provided a stage for some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry. Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Led Zeppelin and Elvis Presley have all rocked and rolled at the 20,000-seat arena.

It is where, on Sunday morning, Australia’s Daniel Geale will try to shock the world once again by upstaging WBA middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin, the rising star of US boxing with an 89 per cent knockout strike rate.

Geale has been in this situation twice before, when the silky Tasmanian from Launceston’s working-class suburb of Rocherlea stunned the boxing world by upstaging highly rated German champions ­Sebastian Sylvester and Felix Sturm in Europe.

Anyone with enough scar tissue around the eyebrows to understand the fundamentals of the fight game can tell you that is one tough road to conquer, beating German champions in their own backyard.

In New York City, the buzz in boxing circles is that Geale is going to become victim No.17 in a row for the knockout king known as GGG.

“This means everything, this fight,” Geale said.

“Especially the venue I’m fighting in.

“Madison Square Garden, it’s as big as it gets and it’s what I’ve been dreaming about since I was a kid.

“It’s steeped in boxing and sporting history and I’m treating it like it’s my first world title shot. I’m extremely hungry, I can really feel it burning inside of my stomach.

“It’s a good feeling.

“Throughout my whole ­career I’ve seen that taking the hard route is always the better way to go. You take the easy way, the shortcut way, it might be good for five minutes or five months but it catches up with you. Train harder, eat healthier, take the hard road.

“In the long run it all works out better for you.”

Geale and his team of trainer Graham Shaw, older brother Joe and sparring partner Jake Carr made the move from New Jersey to Manhattan yesterday in preparation for the Australian’s open workout at the Garden.

Golovkin has fought twice at the Garden, bloodying ­Gabriel Rosado so badly the ringside doctor called the fight off and then following suit against Curtis Stevens, whose corner and the referee threw in the towel after eight rounds.

Golovkin and Geale were ringside for Miguel Cotto’s demolition job on WBC middleweight world title holder Sergio Martinez last month, with GGG already eyeing a ­superfight against Cotto, provided he accounts for Geale.

Big mistake.

Geale believes he learned some invaluable lessons from his last failed venture to Atlantic City in the US, when he lost a split decision to the UK’s Darren Barker.

“The biggest thing we learnt was in the preparation, you can push too far. You can do too much,” Geale said.

“At that stage we wanted to improve but we were trying to do too much at the same time and my body just couldn’t keep up with it all. We’ve got it right this time. I’m feeling strong.”